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<br />c) <br />..-.) <br />C.oJ <br /> <br />I. <br /> <br />PURPOSE AND NEED FOR ACTION <br /> <br />;.'\ <br /> <br />C'J <br />'""'" <br /> <br />A. <br /> <br />PROPOSAL <br /> <br />The Service, through the Colorado River Fishery Project, Grand Junction, Colorado, <br />proposes to continue an experimental stocking program of razorback sucker in the San <br />Juan River. This experimental program was initiated in 1994 under the ongoing <br />cooperative research effort sponsored by the San Juan River Basin Recovery <br />Implementation Program. As of this date, the cooperators with the Service in the <br />Implementation Program include the Bureau of Reclamation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, <br />the Bureau of Land Management, the States of Colorado and New Mexico, the Ute <br />Mountain Ute Indian Tribe, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and the Jicarilla Apache Indian <br />Tribe. <br /> <br />B. PURPOSE <br /> <br />The proposed experimental stocking of razorback sucker in the San Juan River is in <br />support of the purposes of the Implementation Program. These purposes are listed <br />below: <br /> <br />1. To conserve populations of the endangered colorado squawfish <br />(Ptychocheilus lucius) and razorback sucker D<vrauchen texanus) in the <br />Basin consistent with the recovery goals established under the Endangered <br />Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq. <br /> <br />2. To proceed with water development in the Basin in compliance with federal <br />and state laws, interstate compacts, Supreme Court decrees, and federal <br />trust responsibilities to the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, the Ute Mountain Ute <br />Indian Tribe, the Jicarilla Apache Indian Tribe, and the Navajo Nation. <br /> <br />The Implementation Program identifies actions and objectives needed to attain these <br />goals and to implement recovery of the endangered fish species within 15 years. The <br />proposed stocking of additional razorback suckers now under consideration is an element <br />of the identified research needs and recovery goals listed in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 of the <br />Implementation Program document: the essential research for long range plan and <br />program goal development, and the protection of genetic integrity and management and <br />augmentation of populations. <br /> <br />The 1994 experimental stocking plan, with its several alternative options, was designed <br />to (1) answer specific research questions essential for the recovery of razorback sucker, <br />and (2) evaluate the utility of further artificial augmentation efforts to achieve recovery <br />goals for this species. <br /> <br />4 <br />